We’ve seen various confirmations of devices getting the coveted Android 4.0 update this year from wireless carriers throughout the U.S., but what about our neighbors to the north? While most Canadian mobile users still do not know of when they will receive the ICS update, Canadian wireless carrier Bell has gone ahead and confirmed it will be pushing out the update to several select devices. While Bell specifically highlights “support for some features vary by manufacturer”, it’s provided a specific list showing the concrete dates of updates for the following devices:

Samsung Galaxy S II – April 2012

Samsung Galaxy Note – April 2012

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 – May 2012

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE – June 2012

HTC Sensation – June 2012

HTC Raider – June 2012

LG Optimus LTE – July 2012

If you’re on Bell and own one of those devices, be prepared for an enhanced Android experience.

While our friends overseas already has their hands on the HTC One X smartphone, we here in the States are unfortunately stuck playing the waiting game for the AT&T version of the HTC One X— which is set to be played a little longer on top of that. While AT&T is still mum on the device’s release date, an anonymous user gave us all the heads up that famed retailer Best Buy will be delaying preorders by a few weeks. The new anticipated release date from Best Buy is now May 6. That’s right folks… May. Feel free to express a disappointing sigh everyone.

Good things comes to those who wait, right gang? Here’s hoping AT&T doesn’t lag too much and will give us that concrete April release date in the coming weeks.

You can’t help but be jealous of the fact some folks get coveted items before the masses. Such is the case with the lucky French blog HTC-Hub who managed to get their hands on the mouthwatering HTC One X smartphone and share their unboxing video with us. As you can see, the box is a bit on the unusual and cramped side– but gorgeous nonetheless. In addition, they are incredibly delicate with the thin device and the put its gorgeous 4.7-inch display in clear view for our eyes to see.

Ready for more yet? Hit the break to check out the unboxing video of the sweet phone. Read more

The HTC One X is no doubt an impressive phone— whether in its Tegra 3 or Snapdragon S4 form. While the device has generated a lot of buzz and excitement, we do know there is a clear difference between the two versions besides the chipset: the Snapdragon version has an LTE chip, the Tegra 3 version doesn’t. People may not realize that HTC has casually made mention of an HTC One XL smartphone, but there has been some minor confusion of what that smartphone actually is. Here’s a quick answer for you all: the HTC One XL smartphone is essentially the AT&T version of the HTC One X without the AT&T branding that will be released specifically for international markets utilizing LTE technology.

There’s a few theories on why this is too. AT&T perhaps wanted to keep the more edgy HTC One X branding, but HTC realized it needs to cater to other growing LTE markets worldwide. That means in order to bring an LTE variant of the One X smartphone outside of the US, it will need to need to you guessed it– bring the Snapdragon S4 version of the device. Instead of causing confusion abroad by having two different versions of the device bearing the same name, HTC kept things simple and named the Tegra 3 version of the device the One X and the Snapdragon S4 version of the device the One XL.

So there you have it gang. The One X will also be known as the Tegra 3 version. The One XL will be also known as the Snapdragon S4 LTE version. And those of us in the U.S. will have the lucky honor of having AT&T’s version of the One XL known as the One X. OK… so there is some minor confusion for us here in the States, but you hey– you get the point.

Well Sammy had a change of heart and decided to release the Galaxy S Value Pack update… for those in Korea that is. The newly released update features sweet options such as Facial Unlock and the ability to take photos while shooting video. If you’re a Galaxy S owner in Korea, all you do is head out to the source link below for the specific details and files, fire up Kies 2.0 and boom— you’re all set for some welcomed additions to your device.

Before you ask— there’s no word on if a similar update will ever reach American shores. It’s probably a safe bet that you don’t hold your breath on it.

“Great news. The testing of the ICS update for HTC Sensation is complete, and we plan to start rolling out the update tomorrow, 29th March.

The update will be rolled out in phases by the Over The Air service, so if yours doesn’t appear right away, you can either wait for it to appear, or go to Settings > About Phone > Software Update > Check now.”

Those of you on the device will now have an added lease on life, thanks to ICS and of course Diet Sense-4.0. Guess that means you guys can stick it to your Samsung Galaxy S II bretheren, right?

Having trouble accessing certain paid apps or seeing errors when browsing for apps in general on your Google Play account? No, you’re not crazy— and you’re not alone either. There have been reports for the last few days highlighting paid apps are not showing up on either a device or even on the web, in addition to the dreaded RPC (Remote Procedure Call) message also. While all paid apps are most likely safe and sound even despite this major glitch, it is a nuissance nevertheless. Hopefully Google gets this kink worked out sooner than later.

Amazon Wireless will be selling the AT&T Galaxy S II smartphone for a mere 1¢. That’s right gang— a mere penny for new customers. In addition, Amazon will toss in free 2-day shipping when you score the device. Great deal, right? That means those of you on AT&T who have been looking for a new phone may now have found the best and most inexpensive reason to upgrade.

You remember that ICS Update for the HTC Vivid smartphone we mentioned last week? Not only did it bring improved sound quality to the device, it’s also brought better overall performance of the device. VentureBeat reports the device with Android 4.0 may be seeing up to 66 percent faster than when the device operated on Android 2.3. This makes the Vivid the first device outside of the Galaxy Nexus in the U.S. to not only feature ICS, but to show the benefits of the updated software through measurable performance. Read on to see the direct comparison of Android 2.3 vs. Android 4.0 on the Vivid smartphone. Read more

Exciting news today for HTC Sensation owners. HTC recently highlighted it will be bringing Android 4.0 to the device at some point this year, but many of you may not even want to wait that long or even bother with ICS featuring the latest Sense topping. That’s why the fine CyanogenMod team has made the coveted CM9 open source officially available for both the Pyramid and MSM8660 versions of the Sensation smartphone. While there’s no officially release for the Sensation smartphone just yet, the fact the source is now available means the top dog developer is working diligently on the CM9 code for the device and ultimately means there will be an alternative ICS version hitting the Sensation in the (very) near future.

Roy Alugbue

Conceived as Spock’s 4th cousin, Roy has had quite the life. He was born in beautiful San Jose, California, raised in Los Angeles, California and now resides in the greater New York City area. He has always been fascinated and obsessed with technology, especially the continuous advancements of mobile platforms. He was a Blackberry slave since his undergrad days at the University of Southern California until realizing in Feb. 2011, there were greener pastures in the land of Android. His first Android phone was the Motorola Atrix 4G, and he hasn’t looked back. He currently works in corporate media, enjoys following media and technology trends, reading a good book, weightlifting, playing on his XBOX 360 and conversing with total strangers.